BBC green lights Doctor Who series 3

Dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum, wee-yah

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The BBC confirmed this week that a third series of Doctor Who - plus a second Christmas special - has been commissioned. The first series of the revived Doctor Who concludes at Saturday (18 June) with the ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, squaring off against the Daleks in his final appearance as the eponymous Time Lord.

Filming of the Christmas special and second series with Casanova star David Tennant, Eccleston's replacement and the tenth Doctor, is due to begin in July. Jane Tranter, BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning, said that Billie Piper, who plays the Doctor's companion Rose Tyler, will feature in every episode of series two, contrary to earlier reports in the Science Fiction trade press.

Writer Russell T Davies will pen six episodes of series two, which will mark the return of Gold-adverse baddies the Cybermen. Davies told BBC Breakfast that Eccleston's departure was "a great loss" but added that Tennant was more than up to the job of playing the Doctor and would give the series "a new lease of life". ®